


The Beginning of Abnormalities

by Athaerys



Series: Medical Anomalies [1]
Category: Xenoblade Chronicles
Genre: During Canon, Gen, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Light Angst, ish, no beta we die like men, youll see - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-10
Updated: 2020-07-10
Packaged: 2021-03-04 22:33:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,016
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25173931
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Athaerys/pseuds/Athaerys
Summary: During a night watch, Sharla notices something off about Shulk and gets very concerned
Relationships: Reyn & Sharla (Xenoblade Chronicles), Reyn & Shulk (Xenoblade Chronicles), Sharla & Shulk (Xenoblade Chronicles)
Series: Medical Anomalies [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1823695
Comments: 3
Kudos: 63





	The Beginning of Abnormalities

**Author's Note:**

> Title is an adaptation of a song called The Abnormality, I couldnt come up with a better title 
> 
> This is the first part of a little series that Im writing of Sharla getting more and more concerned over Shulk and his weird medical state, and I hope you enjoy!
> 
> Also thank you so much to the XC1 discord server, yall gave me the inspiration and idea for this series <3

It was pretty soon after Sharla joined the party when the mysteries surrounding Shulk began. Sharla was a medic, it was her job to keep an eye on everyone’s health and patch them up if a tough battle roughed the group up. However, in all of her years of studying and experience, she had never seen a Homs like Shulk.

The first moment when Sharla started to notice the abnormalities with Shulk was after the fight with the Mechon M71 on Spiral Valley. Juju was taken away by that mechon with a face, and all Sharla wanted to do was run after him. However, both Shulk and Reyn agreed that it wouldn’t be wise to rush to Colony 6 without recovering from the latest battle. So, for the time being, they were making camp for the night near Spiral Valley.

After their temporary camp was set up, containing a fire, areas for sleeping bags, and their supplies off to the side, it was time to figure out who would take first watch during the night. “If it’s alright with you two, I’ll take the first watch,” Sharla says right as Shulk and Reyn were about to start deciding. “I don’t think I can rest knowing that Juju is in danger. Besides, my rifle needs some maintenance and fine tuning.”

“Are you sure Sharla? You can get some rest while-” Shulk starts before a hand is on his shoulder and is given a look by Reyn that says, _“Let her do what she wants.”_

Reyn, knowing that Shulk wouldn’t quite understand the words being spoken silently, chimes in before Shulk could counter, “Alright, how ‘bout this. Sharla takes the first watch, I’ll take second, and Shulk you can take the final watch. Sound good to everyone?” He suggests with his usual loud, cheery self.

“That sounds good to me Reyn.” Sharla says with a genuine smile on her face, silently thanking Reyn for understanding why she is like this.

“Yeah, sounds good to me!” Shulk chimes in, as he starts to settle in for the night, giving up on the silent conversation between the other two “Goodnight everyone.”

“G’night, wake us if ya need anythin Sharla.” Reyn mutters out after already in his sleeping bag. Within seconds he was already snoring, which Sharla thought was impressive.

\-----------------

Nothing eventful happened until roughly an hour before it was time to wake Reyn for the second watch. Sharla had just finished maintenance and calibration of her rifle, her back hurting from leaning over constantly, when she decided to quickly check on the two sleeping. It was supposed to be just a glance over before going through the medical supplies when she noticed that Shulk wasn’t breathing.

His chest wasn’t rising or falling, nor does it look like he moved even a tiny bit once he settled in to sleep. It almost looks like he was a corpse and wasn’t just talking to her a couple hours ago. Not one to panic immediately, Sharla decided to instead watch Shulk a small bit to make sure she wasn’t seeing anything. After about thirty seconds, she notices that Shulk has started breathing again, however slow.

Sharla then notes that his breathing is a lot slower than the normal Homs, and if she had a guess it would be that he has a slow resting heart rate as well. She has never seen a Homs breathe so slowly, or just stop breathing in general. The average Homs doesn’t inhale six times a minute, but it seemed like Shulk was unbothered by it.

There was only about thirty minutes before it was time for Reyn to start his shift, so Shala decided to quickly go through the medical supplies. It would be good to know what to ration and what can be used a lot. Besides, Sharla needed something to work on to distract from the scare Shulk unknowingly caused her.

It was time for Reyn to start his shift, so Sharla after putting away the medical container walked over to Reyn’s sleeping bag and gently shook him awake and called his name. Gently shaking didn’t seem to wake him up as he was still snoring loudly, so Sharla resorted to shaking him with more force. He awakes with a start and looks around wildly, worried they’re in danger.

“Is everythin ok?! Where’s the threat?!” Reyn almost shouts, looking around frantically to try and find an enemy that isn’t there.

“Reyn calm down! There is no threat, I only woke you up because it’s your turn.” Sharla shout-whispers back at Reyn, who is finally starting to calm down. “Also, next time we run into traders, we need to refill the medkit. I’m running out of healing rounds and we don’t have many supplies other than bandages. Painkillers are also getting low.”

“Ah right, sorry Sharla. You go get some sleep now, I’ll take over,” Reyn said while looking genuinely sorry for causing a ruckus and overreacting. “And alright, I’ll keep that in mind next time we get into a scuff.”

“Thanks Reyn, and goodnight. Wake us up if anything happens.” With that closing sentence, Sharla starts setting up her sleeping bag for the night.

With nothing to distract her mind while trying to fall asleep, her mind started going back to what happened during her watch. Something about Shulk was unnerving, and since Sharla experienced that firsthand, it has completely taken over her thoughts. She can’t name particularly _why_ he was so different, other than when asleep he looks like a corpse. But there was something, and it almost seemed as if Shulk wasn’t entirely there.

He looks and acts normal during the day, so it was no surprise to Sharla that no one else would notice. Reyn certainly wasn’t trained to be a medic, he was good for offense and taking hits for others, and afterall Shulk probably doesn’t even know there’s something concerning about him. It was just natural for him to have such a slow breathing cycle. But Sharla was trained to know what is considered normal for Homs.

Shulk wasn’t normal.

**Author's Note:**

> As always, any comments/feedback is appreciated! Im always trying to grow as a new writer


End file.
